Desmond Miles

Desmond Miles has been confirmed as a playable character in the game. His role in the story will figure prominently; Assassin's Creed III lead writer Matt Turner says the game will feature Desmond more than any previous entry in the series. [1]

Desmond spent his childhood raised strictly by his father William Miles. Stressed to his breaking point Desmond wound up leaving and gaining a job as a bartender where he admits the life is peaceful until he is captured by Abstergo, later revealed to be the templars, in order to use his DNA to make the animus reveal the location of the Pieces of Eden.

Previously, Assassin's Creed creative lead Alexandre Amacio said that ACIII would be the end of Desmond's story. Ubisoft has also confirmed that Desmond will use the Animus 3.0 in the game and will no longer be in a coma.

In a recent press conference, Alex Hutchinson also stated that, "Desmond's moves are a bit more flashier than Connor's. Our motto is that an assassin never spins. Except Desmond. Desmond spins.

The Story So Far

Assassin's Creed

In the original Assassin's Creed, Desmond was living his life as a simple Barkeeper, until Warren Vidic and Abstergo found and kidnapped him. They strapped him into a machine known as the Animus, designed to make his relive the memories of his ancestors, which remains within our DNA. Also present was Lucy Stillman, who ensured that Desmond's time in the Animus was no where near as disastrous as the last Assassin they placed in the machine- "Subject 16".

Desmond was forced to relive the memories of Altair Ibn-La Ahad, an Arab assassin in the Middle Ages fighting during the Crusades. Altiar relearned the tenants of the order after botching a mission in his arrogance by hunting down and murdering targets from both sides of the conflict around Europe, but soon discovered his master, Al Mualim, was just as bad. He wanted to use an artifact known as the Apple of Eden to take control and forge a new world, one without choice or free will. Altiar murdered Al Mualim and took the Apple- which proceeded to show him a map of other Pieces of Eden, which was precisely what the Templars were looking for.

Desmond was taken out of the Animus, his services no longer needed, but he soon found that the Eagle Vision that was characteristic of Altair had bled over to him. He began to follow cryptic symbols until he wandered into his room, where he found a massive message carved into the wall by Subject 16 in his own blood...

Assassin's Creed II

Shortly after Desmond's discovery, Lucy reveals herself to be an Assassin and smuggles Desmond out of Abstergo, recruiting him to help her stop the Templars. Taking him to the Assassin hideout, she and her fellow Assassins Shaun and Rebecca put him in a new Animus to take advantage of the Bleeding Effect to train him in the lifetime of an Assassin in just a few weeks.

This time Desmond lives the life of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a nobleman of the Italian Renaissance. After the Templars murdered Ezio's family, he became an Assassin to fight his way through the Templar order to reach the man responsible for it all- Rodrigo Borgia. Over the course of three decades, Borgia was able to become the Pope and obtained an Apple of Eden to unlock a vault beneath the Vatican. Ezio defeated Rodrigo and entered the vault, only to meet Minerva, a holographic-like member of the first civilization. She addressed Desmond directly, warning him that the end of the world was coming and that he needed to be able to stop it, but after sending her message to Desmond through the memories of Ezio, Warren Vidic assaulted Assassin base, able to find it due to an inside contact, forcing the assassins to flee...

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Relocating to Ezio's old home, Monterggioni, Desmond continues to train in the memories of Ezio, while also trying to uncover the mystery behind Subject 16, who was leaving cryptic messages in the Animus, and discover what Minerva's words meant.

Ezio, meanwhile, had his home destroyed by Cesare Borgia, son of Rodrigo Borgia. Ezio returned to Rome to fight the Templars once again, stealing the Apple of Eden away from them before hiding it under the Coliseum in Rome. AS Desmond and Lucy retrieved it, another first civilization member, Juno appeared, taking over his body and forcing him to kill Lucy, before collapsing into a coma...

Assassin's Creed: Revelations

In order to keep him alive and prevent the shock from taking its tole on him, Shaun and Rebecca, along with Desmond's father William, strapped Desmond back into the Animus. This time, he was taken to a place called Animus Island, where he met Subject 16- his mind fractured off from his body due to prolonged use of the Animus. 16 warned Desmond the same was happening to him, and if Desmond couldn't relive all of his ancestor's memories long enough to reach a Sync Nexus, the machine wouldn't be able to tell Desmond, Altair and Ezio apart, and he would be lost.

Desmond lived out the final days of Altair, seeing the Assassin rise to the head of the order, harness the power of the Apple for good, before sealing it away in his hidden vault. Ezio, meanwhile, spent his final days in Constantinople, trying to find the keys to Altair's hidden tomb before the Templars could. Ezio was able to do so, but when he entered the tomb, Ezio decided to leave the Apple behind, abandoning his role as an Assassin to finally live out his life in peace with his new love.

When Desmond returned to Animus Island, the Animus was in the process of deleting everything, but Subject 16's timely intervention saved Desmond's life, at the cost of his own, and Desmond was afforded one final memory from Juno before awakening- showing a war between the first Civilization and mankind that prevented them from stopping the end of the world in a cycle that was coming to pass once again. She showed Desmond a Sanctuary, where the Assassins needed to go to finish the First Civilization's work and save the world, a location in New York...